Jennifer Salke is stepping down as head of Amazon Studios and will transition to a producing deal, effective immediately.
There are currently no plans to fill her role. Sharing the news on an internal memo (scroll to the bottom), Prime Video & Amazon MGM Studios head Mike Hopkins said film and television will now operate as distinct studios, with head of film Courtenay Valenti and head of TV Vernon Sanders reporting to Hopkins. Marketing head Sue Kroll will continue to work across both.
Salke will launch her own production label and has struck an overall first-look deal across both film and television, a common move for a departing studio head.
“Since I joined in 2018, we set out together to create a new type of global studio that fostered an environment for the world’s most creative talent to do their very best work,” Salke said in a statement. “Along the way, we expanded internationally, built out a film business and hired and developed an incredible team.”
The news comes in the week that Amy Pascal and David Heyman were announced as producers of the upcoming ‘Bond 26’. In February Amazon MGM Studio announced it was taking creative control of the James Bond franchise.
While Hopkins said in his memo that it was Salke’s decision to step away, questions will be asked. Salke is understood to have clashed with former James Bond franchise guardian Barbara Broccoli and The Wall Street Journal recently reported on long-running disharmony. Valenti is seen as a highly experienced film head who can build the pipeline.
Salke joined in 2018 to replace Roy Price after serving as NBC Entertainment president. A television specialist, she took on responsibility for also building the feature slate and steered the company away from arthouse titles to bigger budgets and original fare.
The $8.5bn acquisition of MGM in 2022 brought in a storied library, resulting in the Creed franchise spun off from Rocky, and an upcoming remake of The Thomas Crown Affair. Last year’s straight-to-platform Road House remake was a smash on Prime, but angered director Doug Liman who said he was initially told the film would debut in cinemas.
In the past two years Amazon MGM Studios has made clear it is assembling a theatrical slate and is said to have pledged $1bn a year. The first major tentpole to emerge from that initiative, the Dwayne Johnson-Chris Evans Christmas caper Red One, earned $185m at the global box office. At a reported $200m-$250m budget, box office alone would have marked down the tentpole as a misfire, however Prime reported in December that the feature drew a record 50m viewers in its first four days on the service.
Amazon MGM Studios is presenting at CinemaCon next week, when attendees will get a sense of what lies ahead in the theatrical pipeline.
On the television side, hits have included Emmy winners like Fleabag and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, as well as Reacher, Fall Out, Jury Duty, and Mr. & Mrs. Smith. Costly series like The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power, whose first season reportedly cost $465m, and Citadel from the Russo brothers are regarded as ambitious projects that did not hit expected heights.
Hopkins’ internal memo appears below:
Dear Team,
Since joining Amazon in 2018, Jen Salke has been a driving force in Amazon MGM Studios’ evolution into what it is today: a world-class producer of award-winning films and series viewed by hundreds of millions of our customers around the world. Original films and series served as the foundation of Prime Video’s growth into one of the world’s leading entertainment destinations, and Jen’s leadership is an undisputed driver of the success we’ve had in this space over the years.
Having accomplished so much as an executive, Jen has decided that her next challenge and chapter will be on the production side, with the aim of getting even closer to the global creative community – which she’s been such a vital member of over the course of her career. As a result, Jen will step down from her role as Head of Amazon MGM Studios in order to start a new production entity, and we’re so pleased that she’ll continue to make her home right here on our lot via an overall first-look deal across both film and TV.
In Jen’s words:
“Since I joined in 2018, we set out together to create a new type of global studio that fostered an environment for the world’s most creative talent to do their very best work. Along the way, we expanded internationally, built out a film business and hired and developed an incredible team. As I’ve been considering my next chapter, I’ve always been searching for that moment where I was positive that our work had set up Amazon MGM Studios for even more success in the long term. When I look at the teams we’ve put in place, our amazing leaders, and the incredible slate of films and shows we’ve got in the pipeline, I realized now is that moment. I’m looking forward to continuing doing what I love, cultivating talent, supporting their vision, and bringing compelling stories to audiences around the world.”
I can’t say enough to express my thanks to Jen for her partnership. Starting with my personal Day 1 in 2020, her vision, creativity and industry relationships were (and are) so apparent that I had no doubt our work together could be transformative not only to Amazon, but also to the industry as a whole. The Rings of Power, Fallout, Reacher, Red One, Maxton Hall, The Idea of You, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Saltburn, Road House, Beast Games, Culpa Mia/Tuya and others speak to the hits under her leadership that have stirred cultural conversation and delivered incredible storytelling to worldwide audiences…and that list covers only the past 18 months. In addition, her leadership is evidenced by the senior team she’s hired and developed…a team that I know will step up in a big way going forward.
Speaking of that team, we will be taking a couple of weeks to have thoughtful conversations with Jen’s directs and others to finalize the ideal long-term structure for the Amazon MGM Studios organization as a whole, and we’ll have more to share on that work soon.
One thing I did want to call out is the fact that – following Jen’s decision to step away – we’ve decided to flatten our leadership structure a bit and not fill the head of studios role. In line with Amazon’s recent work to streamline reporting lines and accelerate decision making, we felt this was the best direction for our studio, which will now operate as distinct film and television studios. To that end, Courtenay Valenti (Head of Film) and Vernon Sanders (Head of TV) will now report directly to me, while Sue Kroll will also continue in her role leading global marketing across both film and TV.
I’m immensely proud of the momentum our team at studios has built over past 12-18 months, executing against our strategic plan and developing a fantastic slate of original shows and films that position us for even more success ahead.
Please join me in once again thanking Jen and wishing her the best on this next adventure…thankfully, she won’t be far away and we still have much to do together.
-Mike
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